Creative Discovery in PaintShop Pro Project 4

You will need these two owl images
Owl 1 from Pixabay
Owl 2 from Pixabay

You will also need these supplies - Lauren Script Font plus the texture and Gradient if you need them.
Here is a zip file - Project 4 Zip File

Download, then unzip to a folder where you store your fonts, gradients and textures

1. PREPARE

Browse for the 2 Owls Images and open in PaintShop Pro
Duplicate the images - Shift + D and either minimize or close the original.

Resize the JLG Owl image (big owl on his own - no tree branches) by 20% and Sharpen
Resize the Moonzigg Owl image (owl with tree branches) by 40% and Sharpen - Also duplicate this one.

Activate Lauren Script Font in Font Base or your Font Manager - then minimize Font Base

650 x 500 Pixels
Raster Background
Colour - None = Transparent Ticked

Click OK

2. COLOURS & TEXTURES

We are going to start with one of the owl and tree branch images.
Activate the Eydroppper Tool.
Pick a light blue for the Foreground box from the area just above his head.
Pick a dark blue for the Background box from the area just to the left of him and low down near the wing.

Locate the Foreground-Background Gradient

Angle - 45
Repeats - 5
Style - Linear

Click OK
Now Flood Fill your empty image with this gradient.

Click on Texture icon to open the Textures
Click on the default button
Locate the Blue Spruce Texture and change the Smoothness to 16
Click ok

Activate the Owl image

Match Mode - RGB Value
Tolerance - 125
Blend Mode - Difference
Opacity - 100

RIGHT Click on the Owl Image - this is the result.

3. OWL IMAGES

Copy the darkened owl image and paste as a New Layer onto the Gradient image.
Lower the Opacity of that layer to between 60-70

Bring up the other owl image (single owl)

Shape - Round
Size - 100
Hardness - 10
Step - 1
Density - 100
Thickness - 100
Rotation - 0
Opacity - 20
Blend Mode - Normal
Aligned Mode - TICKED
Show Overlay - TICKED

Activate the Image we are creating and Add a New Raster Layer
Now Activate the single owl image - make sure Clone brush is still activated
RIGHT click on centre the owl Nose
Paint his face onto your image among the tree branches - Take great care not to get "Cut-off" Edges

Activate the move tool to close the Clone Tool down.
Minimize the Single owl image and bring up the other image with the tree branches
- Not the one we made darker with the Blend mode of difference, but the original colours
Activate the Freehand Selection Tool

Selection - Freehand
Mode -Replace
Feather - 50
Smoothing - 10
Anti-Alias - TICKED

Draw around the Owl quite close

Copy and Paste as a New Layer to our creation
Flip/Horizontal - so he faces the other way
Move it to the bottom Right Corner

4. TREE BRANCHES

Go back to the other image and still with the selection tool draw around some of the tree branches

Copy and Paste as a New Layer to our creation
Flip/Horizontal
Move them to the top Left corner with 2 of the branches hanging down

Paste as a New Layer again and Move the branches to the top Right corner
Paste as a New Layer once more and Move these branches to the bottom of the first ones you just placed in the top right corner

Go to the layers palette and drag those bottom set of branches underneath the layer beneath.
So now the top branches in the image are also the top brances in the layer palette

Lower the opacity of that layer we just moved to 70 - this is the lower branches and the 2nd top layer

Go to the Layer Palette and look for the owl we cloned - it will be the lightest layer - 3rd from bottom

Drag it to the top
If you see any cut off edges on that layer now, circle them with the freehand selection tool and hit the delete key on the keyboard to smooth them out
Activate the move tool and move the layers around to where you are happy with them.